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AMERICAN CENTURY CHAMPIONSHIP


July 12, 2017


Mark Mulder


Stateline, Nevada

THE MODERATOR: Mark Mulder, two-time defending champion. Tell us about your chances, what you're thinking going into this, any added pressure of trying to repeat and repeat and repeat.

MARK MULDER: Records were made to be broken. It's cliché, but it's true. I feel good about my chances, like I did in past years. Prior to winning it the first time two years ago, I still felt like I had a chance to win. The last couple of years things worked out.

I believe in what I'm doing out there. I'm getting more and more comfortable with this atmosphere, playing in front of all these people, each and every year.

I've said in the past that for a lot of us athletes, it's not what we do. And while that's true, the more you do it, the more comfortable you become with it. And I think that's the way I feel now, just stepping out on the range yesterday for the Pro-Am, playing with the group I did yesterday, today on the range, I just feel so much more comfortable than I have in past years.

There's a lot of confidence. I'm not going to lie. There's only a couple of holes out there that don't look good to me, maybe two holes where the tee shot is uncomfortable, on the holes I've screwed up in the past.

But I'm trying to figure out maybe a different club to hit, whatever it might be, but for the most part a lot of the holes I step up on I feel very comfortable hitting that tee shot.

THE MODERATOR: Last three Celebrity tournaments you've played, you've won them all. You're getting a reputation out there among the other guys. J.R. is going to keep saying "shank", "shank", "shank" to you and try to get into your head.

MARK MULDER: That won't work. But that's okay. I said it -- I said it during the broadcast here last year on 17, I think, of the final round, when they interviewed me. I said something about: You feel like you're going to shank it when you stand over that ball, because of the adrenalin and all the people.

But I also believe in what I'm doing out there and I know it's not going to happen. If it does, so what, you go find it and you hit it. Unless, of course, it goes in the lake.

Q. 3-to-1 odds. We talked before about you making a wager on yourself in the past, what are you thinking this year?
MARK MULDER: I'm going to do the same thing. When do you ever really get to bet on yourself? I'm not much of a gambler.

But I know my wife already hit it yesterday because my nine-year-old ratted her out. So he said to me, in the hotel, "Don't tell mom, don't tell mom that I told you." Then I guess he went to my wife and said, "Hey, you need to tell dad. You need to tell dad that you put money on him."

So he's playing both parts. And it will be fun.

Q. I think this is something that's been broached in the past, but a lot of quarterbacks, a lot of pitchers win this tournament. Maybe 18 times now. Any idea why?
MARK MULDER: Well, you know, I can't speak to being a quarterback. But when I compare pitching to golf, nothing in either of those two positions -- you can't call golf a position -- but you get what I'm saying.

Nothing can happen until you throw the pitch or you pull the club back. Every other sport, whether it's throwing a football, passing a puck, it's a reaction.

You're just reacting to the open guy. Quarterbacks obviously are mentally very tough. And I think that's what you need out here.

You need to be mentally strong. You can't doubt yourself out there because when you do that's when you hit a bad shot. That's when things for me started to unravel the first couple of years I played in this tournament, because I wasn't confident with it. I had never played in front of people. I never really played competitive golf like this.

But when you compare pitching, it's the two sports where, when you hear about people, people saying whether it's the shanks, the yips, whatever you want to call it, pitchers get it. Golfers get it.

Yeah, shooting a free throw can be similar, but for the most part everything else is a reaction. To be a starting pitcher and have to repeat your delivery over and over, it's just like repeating a golf swing.

A hitter can get a hit with a bad swing. You're not going to really throw a good pitch with a bad delivery or hit a golf ball with a bad swing and be successful at it.

Q. Rick Rhoden, of course, won this seven times, eight times. 30 some odd professional events. Tony Romo has tried. Steph Curry has tried. And you're beating them all at this point. Is there something like that in your future?
MARK MULDER: Right now, no. I have three kids, my oldest being almost 10. I want to be home. The problem with me trying to take golf too serious is -- the 30 to 50 balls I hit before I play, that's my practice.

I'm not a range person. I mean, yeah, I've gone to it, but I've taken one lesson in my life. I don't really know what I'm working on. I just understand my swing and what I'm trying to do out there and trying to repeat it and that's it.

If I try to take golf serious, I'm such a competitive person that I would have to go all in on golf. And that would mean really working hard at it; and to be honest, I don't want to put the time in to do that.

It's not that important to me. Don't get me wrong, I love it. This is the Masters to me, the U.S. Open, whatever you want to call it, this is an incredible week being here. But to take it that serious, it would be hard to do that. I know how many pitches I had to throw to get to the top in baseball.

I don't want to have to hit that many golf balls to try to get to that type of a level in golf.

Q. Understand in the past week you were working on your game at elevation down in Arizona?
MARK MULDER: Yeah, we had a home in Flagstaff for five years. I go up there -- we go up there every summer to get out of the heat, 110.

You leave 110, pull into Flagstaff, it's 80. It's about 7,000 feet. I think it's a little more than here, but it's pretty close. It helps with my yardages when I come here.

Just feeling more comfortable hitting a wedge from, say, 160, 170 yards, whatever it might be. The ball goes a long way when you hit it high.

People say how far does the ball go? If you hit a low 4-iron, it doesn't go as far as, say, a high 7. The higher you hit it, the more it stays up in the air. So that's all part of the game out there trying to judge distances and figure that out and be successful.

Q. The trip up north was basically because of weather, not because of --
MARK MULDER: It was more to get out of the heat. Plus my kids play a lot of golf up there. So a lot of my rounds were playing with them, trying to get ready for the tournament.

Q. What are the couple holes you referred to where you didn't feel comfortable on the tee box?
MARK MULDER: 15. 15 has always been a tough hole for me. I've hit anywhere from, tried hitting 3-wood to 5-iron before. It always seems like I have an in-between yardage.

18, I'm fine with, but I normally play a little more cut, which 18 sets up more for a draw. I can draw on my 3-wood. I don't know. It depends on how I'm feeling going into some of those holes, what I'm going to hit. This year I might hit 3-wood on 18.

I can still hit 3-wood and probably still hit a 7-iron or so on the green in two. But trying to think what else.

12, 12 has always been one that I struggle with the second shot just because it's uphill into that grown. Last year I birdied it on the final round, which I think that was the last hole that I haven't birdied in this tournament. I think I birdied the rest. Maybe the 11 I haven't birdied because it's a hard par 3. But the rest I've done okay on.

Q. I think it was 17 pitchers and quarterbacks won of the 27, and I believe Elway won one year, to answer the question that it was also about game management. As a pitcher, as a quarterback, you're managing the entire event like you would need to in golf. And my question to you is: Looks like you finished with an 82 a couple of years ago and, what was it last year, 74?
MARK MULDER: Yeah.

Q. What kind of numbers are you looking for this year?
MARK MULDER: I mean, I want to do that same thing, if not more. I mean, that's the plan. Whether that happens or not, I have no idea.

But this course sets up really well for me. And I think for a lot of the better players, it becomes a putting contest. First two rounds last year I didn't make a whole lot of putts but the final round last year I made a ton of putts and kind of made up for it.

I got on a little bit of a roll on the front nine, on the back half of the front nine last year and got out to a nice big lead and kind of cruised in, I guess you could say.

But it's a battle out there. It's not easy to putt. The 3-putts, those 2-, 3-, 4-footers, you see a lot of guys miss those putts. Because you think about how many times you're at home and you pick those up with your friends. This last month playing with buddies, I've putted every one of them. I don't care if it's one foot or four feet, I putt them, and they're just laughing at me. I'm like, I need to make them in a few weeks, I need to practice these.

When it comes to course management, for me it's, like with pitching, you see all these young pitchers playing 95 or 100 but they can't command the baseball. They get sent down to the Minor Leagues when you throw 100 miles an hour. I don't understand that.

But it's because they don't understand what they can do and what they can't do.

The minute you start to -- whether it's pitcher or with golf, the minute you understand what you're good at and what you're not, just stick with what you're good at. Quick trying to do the stuff you can't. And you'll be okay.

It would be like me trying to hit a 20-yard hook with a 3-wood around trees. I can't do that. So you're not going to see me try in this tournament. It's all part of those things that play into that management being out on that course.

Q. A nongolf-related question here. Major League Baseball, home runs are up, strikeouts are up. What do you attribute to most of this? Do you think it's good for the game? Do you not think it's good for the game?
MARK MULDER: Over the past however, let's just say 20 years, we've seen home runs go up and down. You haven't seen the players change a whole lot. You had the steroid era when I played, you had seven, eight guys that could take you opposite field.

And then we had a stretch where you saw the best pitchers in the game with a 1-something ERA. When it comes to TV ratings, that's not exactly very sexy. People want to see runs scored. Look at the Sosa/McGwire thing back in the day, that saved baseball after they had the strike and stuff.

And I know there's been the big talk about the baseball. I know when I -- I do A's game now for TV a little bit.

And when I grab those baseballs, trust me, I've held it enough; I can feel the difference. I mean it feels like a rock. That's not to sit there and say that they've manipulated it in some way, but it sure does feel different.

But these guys are also training year-round. They might take a couple weeks off after the season. That's why there's a reason guys are throwing 100 miles an hour, and it's everybody.

They're not playing a whole lot of other sports growing up. That also leads to more injuries. But it also leads to increased velocity.

And the science behind it has gotten so incredible that the workout regimen, the shoulder exercises, the elbow exercises, whatever it is, they're getting stronger.

Your body is not meant to throw over 100 miles an hour. It's not a natural movement. And that's why there's so many injuries. But it also sure does look cool when everybody's 95 to 100.

But, like I said, you still have to be able to pitch. You look at some pitchers, they don't throw that hard and they dominate games. It's all about location and moving that ball.

Look at some of the guys we have here with Maddux or Glavine, they're some of the best in the game. Maddux threw harder when he was younger, but he still dominated when he was older.

Q. You talk about throwing harder and increased injuries. I mean, do you think it's happening at the youth age? Playing baseball too much and then by the time you get to the majors or minors, damage is already done? What's your theory there?
MARK MULDER: Well, yeah, I think that's part of it. They're playing year-round. And some of the coaches -- my son is going to play travel ball this fall.

And I'm a little concerned about it. I mean, he's just nine and a half, almost ten. But the thing is that there's a difference between throwing year-round and pitching year-round.

You pitch year-round and you're in stressful situations, you're playing games, you're maxing out all year. And they can sit there and say, well, we're on pitch counts or we give them days off.

But the reality is back in the day when there were a lot less injuries, listen, my career ended because of shoulder injuries. But I never had injuries growing up.

I didn't have them until I got to the Big Leagues. But these kids, they play year-round. And if you want -- like I said, if you want to throw that's fine, you're playing catch or throwing sides, whatever it might be, that's not that intense not a big thing.

But they throw so many innings, by the time they get to college or pro baseball, they have X amount more innings than back in the day, whatever you want to compare it to, you've played so many more games, pitched in so many more games, it's just so much more put on their body.

My glove went away the end of August. I didn't pick it up until, say, February. I'm not saying that's the right thing. I don't know what the right thing is. But right now it sure does seem like there's a whole lot more baseball being played.

Q. If it's not you, who are you betting on? Who are you looking as the biggest competition for you this week?
MARK MULDER: If I had to pick one, I'd have to say Mardy Fish. I joke with him, I still say if we played ten rounds, he'd probably beat me six or seven out of the ten. He can flat out play. And he's joked in the past that, hey, can somebody give me some putting lessons.

So maybe that's the reason he hasn't competed or hasn't won them, my guess. You'd have to ask him. That's just based off his comments. But he's really good.

Q. Last two years in a row myself, thank you very much, has won the media pool. Are we doing this three times in a row or what?
MARK MULDER: I didn't come here to lose. I wouldn't tell you anything different. Just like I hope ten other guys wouldn't tell you any different. I'm ready to go.

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